Improving the Health, Fitness, and Performance of Young Basketball Players

Sunday, November 9, 2008

Cipro No-Go

ptclinic.com

Recently, the Federal Drug Administration added an important warning to the prescribing information for ciprofloxacin, an antibiotic commonly used to treat sinus, bladder, and other infections.

The warning, available at http://www.cipro.com/html/pdf/cipro_prescription.pdf (page 10), states that the use of ciprofloxacin (as well as other drugs called "fluoroquinolones") is "associated with an increased risk of tendinitis and tendon ruptures in all ages".

This risk is further increased for older patients (usually >60 years), those taking corticosteroid drugs, and those involved in "strenuous physical activity" (which includes playing basketball).

What does this mean for you?

Ciprofloxacin, while an effective antibiotic for the treatment of some infections, may also increase your risk of a tendon injury. Since young basketball players are already at an increased risk for injuries to tendons at the knee and heel, there's no reason to further increase your risk for injury by taking this medicine if another equally effective antibiotic is available.

This only applies to medicines that you swallow. Eye drops or ear drops are not associated with an increased risk of tendon injuries.

So the next time your doctor prescribes ciprofloxacin or another fluoruquinolone antibiotic medicine to treat an infection, remind them that you don't want to increase your risk of tendon injury and see if they can prescribe another medicine.

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About the Author

The author is a Basketball Medicine Physician who is
Board Certified in both Pediatrics and in Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation.He is a Member of the Council on Sports Medicine and Fitness of the American Academy of Pediatrics, Member, Sports Medicine Special Interest Group, American Academy of Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation and
Member, American College of Sports Medicine.
He lives in Chapel Hill, North Carolina, USA where he enjoys watching, playing, and thinking about basketball.
He created this blog to improve the health, fitness and performance of young athletes so that they can keep playing, and learning from, the game of basketball.

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The content of this blog is designed for your general education and is presented in summary form. The information on this blog is not intended to be relied on for medical diagnosis or treatment. Medical information changes rapidly. Information contained here is not intended to be and should not be used as a substitute for medical advice. YOU SHOULD NEVER DISREGARD MEDICAL ADVICE YOU HAVE RECEIVED FROM YOUR PHYSICIAN OR OTHER QUALIFIED HEALTH CARE PROVIDER OR DELAY IN SEEKING IT BECAUSE OF ANYTHING YOU READ ON THIS BLOG. Should you have any health related questions, please contact your physician or other qualified health care provider promptly.